jill read and liked Lauren's review of High Fidelity:

"I had one of my friends tell me that he, under no circumstances, wanted any of his girl friends to read this book at the risk of us figuring out how guys like him think. I essentially took that as a challenge, and promptly picked up the book and beg...more I had one of my friends tell me that he, under no circumstances, wanted any of his girl friends to read this book at the risk of us figuring out how guys like him think. I essentially took that as a challenge, and promptly picked up the book and began reading.

Rob's a thirtysomething sort-of single guy who owns a somewhat failing record shop. His now-ex girlfriend just moved out and he's struggling quite a bit, both with his store and his life in gemeral. While I was reading it, I kept having to stop and read a paragraph aloud to my roommate, something that just struck me as insight to something seemingly insignificant.

The book makes constant references to pop culture, specifically music, and instead of being overused, it could almost be considered another character or part of the setting. To Rob, everything comes back to music, and Hornby uses that as a roundabout way of giving us a little bit more depth into Rob's character in a very cool way.

Overall, I loved High Fidelity. I could sort of equate it to a male's Bridget Jones. I have yet to watch the John Cusack movie that is based on it, but I've heard nothing but good things. It's a quick and enjoyable read, and entertaining. I definitely recommend it.(less) "